Page 141 of Fated to be Enemies

We arrived at a set of doors similar to the one that led to the garden. This time, the door opened to reveal a huge canopy. The sun, which resembled Earth’s, shone in the sky and radiated warmth. Since sparring was inevitable, I scanned the area to get a sense of it. Vines grew in the corners, and five men sat at a sizable table with wooden chairs and green satin seats. To the right, a gigantic weeping willow grew at the edge of a ginormous circle of stone. Instead of Dallas, Maeve stood in the center of the space that had to be our sparring area.

The sight of her would’ve been a relief if not for the way Maeve was glaring at me.

She wore the same sort of outfit as last night, her hair now pulled back and out of the way.

“Good sun cycle,” she said as she walked toward me. Smaller weapons, like daggers, had replaced her swords, and her stern expression made me realize she hadn’t been joking in the slightest last night. She was going to train me hard.

As she strolled over, I wanted to run away.

From the table where the men were sitting, she lifted a belt with two sheaths and daggers and handed it to me.

“I can’t wait to watch your session,” Dallas cooed, and I realized he was sitting the farthest from me but with the clearest view of the circle.

Wanting to look anywhere but at him, I took the belt from Maeve and buckled it around my waist.

The man closest to me chuckled, his lime-green eyes bright. “At least she’s familiar with weapons. Maybe the princess is in there after all.”

I didn’t want to correct him and tell him I’d been trained by a former Marine for the past seven years.

A man with vibrant red hair sat across from Lime Eyes, body turned toward the training area. He tilted his head, scanning me. “She doesn’t stand a chance against Maeve. She’s the best fighter of us all.”

Maeve strode into the stone circle.

I turned and saw Enid walking away, but all five men stayed in place, and Dallas leaned back with his hands behind his head.

“Uh…aren’t they leaving?” Fighting her on my own would be bad enough. The last thing I wanted was anyone watching. I didn’t want them to know I’d had professional training.

“You nervous, Princess?” a man with lavender streaks in his silver hair asked from his spot next to Dallas.

I hated how all these men knew who I was, but I didn’t know a single one, and I didn’t want to seem curious, not after what Maeve had said last night, so I tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

Maeve shrugged. “Thousands will be watching the Comortas. You might as well get used to it.”

I swallowed. I wouldn’t be able to get out of this.

“Let’s train.” She removed two daggers from her sides, handles made of vines.

Taking a deep breath, I took one of my daggers in hand. I’d trained with knives, and these blades were only slightly longer. Hopefully, that difference wouldn’t bother me. I lifted them, ready to bring it.

Once I was set up, she charged.

Chapter Seven

Ears ringing, I lifted my dagger, barely blocking her from piercing my left shoulder. She gritted her teeth and used all her weight to get the edge of the dagger to slice my leather and dig into my skin.

Pain stung me, and I sucked in a breath, refusing to make a noise. Her getting the best of me was bad enough.

I scurried backward, needing to gain a little distance.

The men watching us cheered while Lime Green exclaimed, “Next time, cut deeper!”

This place was totally insane. “What the hell? You’re supposed to be training me.”

“I am.” Maeve wiped the edge of her dagger against her chest. “The Comortas is in six sun cycles, so our training time is rather limited. Do you expect the other competitors to take it easy on you because you were raised human?”

I hated that I already knew the answer. “They won’t.” Most of the competitors would ignore me, focusing on the more imminent threats, but when the numbers dwindled, they wouldn’t hesitate to slit my throat…or whatever fae did. “I didn’t realize you would try to kill me before I even made it to the tournament.”

“Now you wish I was training you, don’t you, love?” Dallas asked.

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